Asian Literature: East Asia

• Asian literature reflects religion, war, and politics and is best studied by region.

East Asia

• China possesses a continuous literary history dating back to the 14th century BCE which has been preserved through language.
• The Tang Dynasty (618–907) is considered the peak of China's literary period, distinguished by its renowned poets.
• Du Fu (Tu Fu) is considered China's greatest poet, known for "The Ballad of the Army Cats" which critiques conscription and court luxury.
• Li Po (Li Bai) is known as a romantic poet characterized by vivid imagery and a conversational style, exemplified in his poem "Alone and Drinking under the Moon," which explores drinking traditions.
• Wang Wei was a poet, painter, musician, and statesman of the Tang Dynasty, whose landscape-inspired poems influenced the Southern school of painter-poets.
• Mo Yan, the 2012 Nobel Laureate in Literature, wrote "Red Sorghum" which portrays Chinese resistance to Japanese invaders in the 1930s.
• Yu Hua is a postmodernist writer known for "To Live," which depicts the hardships of a wealthy landowner's son during the Chinese Revolution.
• Early Korean poetry was in Classical Chinese up until the 7th century.
• The creation of Hangul in the 15th century initiated a new era.
• The Korean War (1950) influenced themes of alienation, conscience, disintegration, and self-identity.
• Ch'oe Nam-Seon was a historian, poet, and publisher who pioneered modern Korean poetry.
• Yi Kwang-su co-founded the modern literary movement and whose novel "The Heartless" depicted Korea's struggle between tradition and modernity.
• Kim Ok was a poet and early modernist who translated Western poetry in "The Dance of Agony".
• Yun Hunggil, a 1977 Korean Literature Writers Awardee, wrote "Changma (The Rainy Spell)", which portrayed a post-war family.
• Pak Kyongni was a poet and novelist who wrote "T’oji (The Land)", an epic chronicling Korean history from 1897–1945.
• Japanese literature, which was influenced by China, developed unique forms such as haiku, Noh, and Kabuki, which reflect simplicity, complexity, and beauty.
• Modern Japanese literature incorporates Western influences.
• Abe Kobo (Abe Kimifusa) was a playwright and novelist whose play "Tomodachi (Friends)" explores human relationships with dark humor.
• Mishima Yukio (Kimitake Hiraoka), an influential 20th-century novelist and 1963 Nobel Prize finalist, wrote "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion", which is based on the 1950 arson of Kyoto's Kinkaku-ji.
• Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, known as the "Father of the Japanese short story," wrote "Rashomon", depicting an encounter in Kyoto's ruined Rashomon gate, and after whom the Akutagawa Prize was named.
• Haruki Murakami is an internationally acclaimed novelist and Jerusalem Prize winner whose debut novel "Hear the Wind Sing" follows a protagonist reflecting on life and intimacy.

Middle East

• The Arabic literary tradition was influenced by Persian, Byzantine, and Andalusian traditions.
• Islam holds a central role in the culture of the Middle East.
• Modern Arabic writers face challenges due to restrictions on freedom of expression and tensions between religious and secular movements.
• Albas Mahmoud al-Aqqad was an Egyptian poet, journalist, and literary critic who innovated 20th-century Arabic poetry and criticism, he is famous for the Abqariyat series on key followers of Muhammad.
• Taha Hussein, the "Dean of Arabic Literature", was an Egyptian novelist and critic whose autobiography "The Days" details his childhood and studies in Egypt and France.
• Ali Ahmad Said Esber (Adonis) is a Syrian-born Lebanese poet and modernist leader in Arabic Poetry.
• Etgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for short stories, graphic novels, and scripts.

South and Southeast Asia

• Indian literature has roots in the Veda, Brahmanas, and Upanishads (1500 BCE, Sanskrit) with written literature appearing in the 16th century.
• British colonization brought English literature, influencing Indian literary traditions into the 21st century.
• Kalidasa is considered the Hindu Shakespeare.

Southeast Asia

• Southeast Asian literature is influenced by Buddhist, Thai, and English cultures.
• Malaysian and Indonesian literature reflect Sanskrit and Islamic influences.
• Modern themes include colonial and postcolonial experiences with Western influences.
• Rabindranath Tagore, known as the "Bard of Bengal," won the Nobel Prize (1913) for "Gitanjali (Song Offerings)", a poetry collection of devotional songs.
• Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (Prem Chand) pioneered Indian themes in Western literary styles, writing "Godaan (Cow Donation)" which explores socio-economic deprivation and rural exploitation.
• Raja Rao, a noted Indian prose stylist, won the Sahitya Akademi Award for "The Serpent and the Rope".
• Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan (R. K. Narayan) is one of India's greatest English-language authors.
• Chart Korbjitti is Thailand's most successful writer whose novel "Khamphiphaksa (The Judgment)" won Thailand's Literature Council Book of the Year award in 2004.
• Nguyen Du, "Father of Vietnamese Literature," wrote the epic "The Tale of Kieu".
• Tengku Amir Hamzah was national hero of Indonesia who wrote "Nyanyi Sunyi".

Central Asia

• Central Asian literature reflects diverse literary characteristics and political influences and some Central Asian writers have gained international recognition.
• Abdullah Qodiriy (Julgunboy) was an Influential Uzbek writer who wrote O'tgan kunlar (Days Gone By)
• Mukhtar Auez-uli was the writer of Abay which is based on the life and poetry of Kunanbay-uli.
• Chingiz Aytmatov was a Russian author which wrote Jamila which tells a love story during World War II

Authors from Africa

• African literature consists of oral tradition and written literature in local and European languages, which reflects freedom struggles and cultural identity.
• Colonization and post-colonization shaped its themes.
• In the 19th century, literary works became a means of resistance and African writers expressed nationalism and independence, despite writing in European languages.
• Contemporary African writers critique government corruption.
• Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" explores Igbo life during colonial rule.
• Wole Soyinka was the first black African Nobel Prize in Literature (1986), writing "A Dance of the Forests" which critiques post-independence Nigeria.
• Kofi Awoonor's "This Earth, My Brother" blends narrative and symbolic mysticism, critiquing Ghana's postcolonial struggles.
• Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is known for "Weep Not, Child", the first major East African English novel, which focuses on the Mau Mau Uprising.
• Okot p'Bitek's "Song of Lawino" is a long poem contrasting rural African and Westernized urban life.
• Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Prize in Literature (1991; wrote "The Conservationist" which critiques South African apartheid.
• Jacques Rabemananjara, from Madagascar, wrote "Les dieux malgaches", the first modern Malagasy play in French, depicting Madagascar's pre-colonial past.
• Es'kia Mphahlele (South Africa) wrote "Down Second Avenue", an autobiographical critique of racial segregation.
• Thomas Mofolo (Lesotho) wrote "Chaka", a historical novel about Zulu king Shaka, translated from Sotho to English.

North America

• North America is mainland or continent totally inside the Northern Hemisphere and practically all inside the Western Hemisphere and It is the third biggest landmass by region

Literary texts and Authors from North America

• David L. Weatherford who is a child psychologist wrote the poem 'Slow dance".
• Alfred Edward Housman popular for his “A Shropshire Lad written “When I Was One-and-Twenty”
• Kate Chopin was considered women activists who wrote “The Story of An Hour.”
• James Grover Thurber a sketch artist wrote The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
• Robert Charles Benchley was a comedian who wrote My Face

Latin America

• Latin America is where Romance dialects are spoken in 20 countries in different parts of America

Europe

• European literature emerges from world literature before the birth of Europe, whose classical languages are the recipients to the complex heritage of the Old World.
• Periods of European Literature included

  • Old English or Anglo-Saxon (c.450 – 1066) which encompasses the literature was written in Old English in Anglo-Saxon England

    • Genre includes poetry, hagiography and Sermons – Middle English literature (1066 – 1500) -Genre includes Allegorical poems, Drama, liturgies and Folktales – English Renaissance (1500 – 1660) -Genre includes Romances, Drama and Folktales

  • Elizabeth period (1558 – 1603)

    -Genre includes English, theater , Poetry

  • Jacobean period (1603 – 1625)

    -Genre includes a problem and revenge play

  • Late Ranaissance (1625 -1660)

    -Genre includes Poetry

  • Restoration Ago (1660 – 1700)

    -Genre includes fiction, allegory and drama

EUROPE LITERATURE of the ANCIENT GREECE:

• England - Age of Restoration (1660–1700)
  • John Milton served the Commonwealth of England he wrote an the epic poem Paradise Lost which is a literary masterpiece.
• 17th Century Russian Literature
  • Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer, known for War and Peace and Anna Karenina

BASIC ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY

• Character is important in the story
• Protagonist is the main character
• Antagonist is a character that challenges the main character
• Setting where the story happens
• Plot is what the story is about
  • Exposition is the beginning of the story
  • Rising action conflicts start forming
  • Climax is the most exciting part of the story
  • Falling Action is the aftermath of the climax
  • Resolution is the solution to the problem
• Conflict is a problem in the story
  • Man vs man
  • Man vs nature
  • Man vs himself
  • Man vs society
• Theme is the central idea in a short story
• Point of view is the way the story is told
• First person uses “i”
• Third person uses “he, she”
• Omniscient person the narrator knows everything

###The Boy Name Crow.

• The story talks about a Character that is about to run away but is being warned that it is not going to be easy.
• It mentions fate as something that can't be escaped and will only make you better.
• The character needs to endure the suffering that's ahead so they are a different person once they finish the journey.

Explore East Asian literature, focusing on China's rich literary history from the 14th century BCE. Discover renowned Tang Dynasty poets such as Du Fu, known for social critiques, and Li Po, celebrated for vivid, romantic imagery. The section also covers notable figures like Wang Wei and contemporary authors such as Mo Yan and Yu Hua.